Behavioural Insights Projects

Washing your hands regularly with soap and water is an effective and easy way of reducing the risk of people falling ill with COVID-19, influenzas or a cold, or contracting other viral illnesses. Stickers and posters were developed focusing on reframing, nudging and habit stacking. Displaying the posters in the office environment led to an increase in handwashing amongst employees. Soap consumption went up. Why this experiment was conducted: improved hygiene standards in the workplace is the…

Institution: Netherlands Ministry of Justice and Security; Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport; and RIVM

The OSGG supports the Governor General in recognizing, promoting, and cultivating excellence by Canadians to strengthen our national identity, unity, and pride. Central to these goals is nominating and appointing Canadian Honours, such as the Order of Canada, which celebrate and reflect the diversity of exceptional contributions that Canadians have made to their country. Maintaining the relevance of these Honours is important to sustaining a shared Canadian identity, and consequently cultivating…

Institution: Impact and Innovation Hub (IIU)- Impact Canada

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

Some jobseekers remain unemployed because they focus on professions and felds in which the job prospects are not favourable. What happens when they receive personalised labour market information about more promising professions and positions that match their knowledge and skills? Compared to people who do not receive that information, they are more likely to move into professions that are completely different from the profession with poor job outlooks that was their first preference. Why this…

Institution: Netherlands Employee Insurance Agency (UWV)

As of 2007, the UK Ministry of Justice was imposing over £350 million in new court fines annually, only half of which were collected within six months. In 2011, the Ministry faced over £600 million in outstanding unpaid fines. Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), which administers the collection of fines, incurs significant costs from non-compliant debtors. In addition to resources for case-management and follow-up phone calls, bailiffs are assigned to recover the debt…

Institution: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS)

Team: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS)

Water scarcity remains common in Brazil, especially in the Recife Metropolitan Region (RMR) in the State of Pernambuco. The RMR is subject to particularly high levels of non-revenue water—which occur when high volumes of water produced do not generate revenue for the supplier. While some losses may be due to structural and operational inefficiencies such as leaky pipes, clients also play a key role by defaulting on their water payments or installing bypasses to consume water free of charge.…

Institution: World Bank

Team: eMBeD, Mind Behaviour and Development team

This study aims to: 1) Use a Discrete Choice Experiment (or DCE) to explore and estimate Canadians’ preferences for different attributes of a potential ZEV purchase or lease. 2) Use an online RCT to explore the impact of varying messengers (government vs. personal testimonial) and varying messages (about driving range vs. affordability) on individuals' intent to switch to a ZEV 3) Explore Canadians’ knowledge of ZEVs 4) Generate baseline evidence other elements of decarbonized transport not…

Institution: Privy Council Office

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

Building on BETA’s work with the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) on applying behaviour science to the Personal Property Securities Register, BETA and AFSA are evaluating whether select recommendations make the registration process easier and if they lead to more accurate registrations.

Institution: Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC)

Team: Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA)

In early 2022, various kinds of text messages were sent to over 100,000 residents of Brabant-Zuidoost who had not yet received a booster jab from the GGD. The results show that the most effective variant − in the 6 days after receiving the text message − led to a 3.2% increase in the number of vaccinations administered. This was the text message saying 'Jouw boosterprik ligt voor je klaar' (You can now book your booster vaccination) plus a randomly allocated date, time and location. Why…

Institution: Netherlands Public Health Service

Challenge Students in low-income districts are less likely to sign up to take the Gifted and Talented (G&T) admissions test than their peers in higher-income districts. As a result, fewer students from low-income districts test into and attend G&T programs that could improve educational outcomes and provide meaningful opportunities. To the extent that the city may use sign-up rates as an indicator of demand, and thus where additional G&T programs should be located, low sign-up rates can mean…

Institution: NYC Mayorship

Team: The NYC Behavioral Design Team - ideas42

The pervasive use of single-use plastic bags presents a growing environmental challenge globally. Despite legislative efforts, such as the mandatory 5p bag-charge introduced in England in October 2015, the problem persists. The issue took on renewed urgency in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen a regression in consumer habits towards increased use of single-use plastics, driven by health and safety concerns (Adyel, 2020). While traditional economic theory suggests that incentives…

Institution: Other

Team: Oxford